Jameis And Deep Balls
April 13th, 2016
What do the stats say?
A lot has been made of America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, and a perceived lack of completions on deep passes during his rookie season.
It was a big topic of conversation Monday when Bucs coach Dirk Koetter, along with wide receiver Mike Evans and Jameis himself, spoke to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club.
But Eliot Harrison of NFL Network isn’t so sure.
This morning on NFL Network, specifically the gabfest known as “NFL HQ,” the outfit focused on the NFC South and even has the pride of Seminole High School, Jeff Darlington, doing live spots from One Buc Palace.
Naturally, the subject of Jameis came up and Harrison seemed to imply Jameis’ stats suggest he is better at throwing deep balls than is commonly perceived.
“I like what I saw from him,” Harrison said of Jameis. “If you just go by the numbers, 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, that’s a good rookie year right there. But what I look at is yards per attempt. I think that is the most underrated stat in pro football. Now 7.6, that’s a healthy number. That means Jameis Winston is not throwing much of dinks and dunks and nine-yard outs.”
This piqued Joe’s interest. So Joe logged on to the interwebs to see where Jameis stood in such a stat. Sure enough, not too shabby. Jameis was 12th in the NFL last year in yards per attempt, middle of the pack.
Not bad for a rookie, but clearly room for improvement. So perhaps Harrison is onto something. Can Jameis and the Bucs improve on completing deep passes? Sure. But if you are a slave to stats, it seems Jameis and the Bucs aren’t terrible on long passes as some would think.
April 13th, 2016 at 1:34 pm
Yards per attempt is not a good stat to show the “effectiveness” of our passing attack. for example Marcus Mariota is 10th on the list and ans Alex Smith is 14th, both are high completion rate dink and dunk guys.
An interesting passing stat is Yards Per Completion. Jameis is number 2 on the list behind Carson Palmer.
April 13th, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Agreed you should have at least 400 attempts to even qualify. The choir boy shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as The Messiah.
Last night I was watching week 2 vs the saints at 2am (fake fan) and let me tell you The Messiah was doing work. I was especially impressed bc it was only his second NFL start and he got up n down the field in no time scoring TDs with his arm n feet. I.e the throw to Vjax that is in every highlight reel n the toss to Louis Murphy while on the run for a 50+ yard completion. #perty
Hell even ASJ got in on the action! It’s a new day in TB, folks. REJOICE!!!
April 13th, 2016 at 2:03 pm
Does YPA also include short passes taken for long gains? I’m thinking of the quick, short pass Mariota threw over the middle to his WR that was taken for a long TD.
If those are calculated within YPA, that makes for an extremely misleading stat.
April 13th, 2016 at 3:03 pm
It would be really interesting to see an adjusted yards per attempt and yards per completion… that only measured the distance of the actual pass (no yards after the completion).
Because I agree, if you take a 6 yard slant that ends up going for 40 yards, it’s very misleading on the QB’s yards per attempt / completion
April 13th, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Unbelievable
Just saw a saw showing yards in air JW was third behind Big Ben n Carson Palmer.
April 13th, 2016 at 3:57 pm
Joe(s)… you’ve really outdone (exposed) yourselves here ! Yards per attempt ???? That can ONLY be an indication of play-calling (or a flustered quarterback). Withou looking at “Yards per completion” it is meaningless stat… and even that doesn’t account for Yards After Catch.
April 13th, 2016 at 4:06 pm
Balls deep into Jameis again…
April 13th, 2016 at 5:28 pm
Imagine for a moment if you will… a rookie season without any drops.
April 13th, 2016 at 5:41 pm
Espo…imagine with just 50% less drops.
Lovie would still be here….
April 13th, 2016 at 6:07 pm
Our playcalling is going to be much different this year. Koeters forat year as a head coach hes going to open it up. Its like the first time behind the wheel of a fast car by yourself….your gonna have some fun!!!!
April 13th, 2016 at 6:50 pm
I was a Trade Down guy last year
(As I am this year), but, I am so happy that Jameis is “our” quarterback!
April 13th, 2016 at 10:18 pm
Jameis rarely dinks and dunks. His “short” passes are still 10 yards down field. That is what i love about Winston (and koetter) the offense throves going downfield. No more 3rd and 15 with a 2 yard crossing route for a 5 yard gain. We have a qb who has the confidence and talent to throw down field into tight windows.
I never understood the short route on 3rd and long. 99% of the time he gets tackled before the first down marker. While your qb has a 60% completition percentage. I’ll take my chances with a downfield first down attempt rather than 5 yards and a punt. Those 5 yards are useless in all reality.